Love On the Seas
by ArtisticCatari
Summary: A fated encounter between a simple barmaid and a boy who strives to become a captain leads to many misadventures, treasure and most importantly, love. A Soumegu Pirate AU fic
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** _Hey guys! So, a while ago I posted this Soumegu Pirate AU (Au was created by moi btw) fic on my Tumblr and I got a few messages saying they wanted me to continue the fic. So, I decided to post it here as well and make this into a multi-chapter series!_

_Don't expect me to update this regularly because my posting schedule is whack lol._

_Anyways, hope y'all enjoy! Sorry if these two are OOC, I'm still getting used to writing the canon characters_

**.**

**Chapter One: A Chance Encounter**

**.**

Megumi's life was far from luxurious. Every day was met with the sounds of drink being poured into large bottles accompanied by loud voices and chanties. Although she wished for something more… purposeful, Megumi had accepted this as fate. This is what she'd do for the rest of her life, right?

…Right?

As the doors to the bar closed, the blue-haired girl found herself wiping the tables clean of alcohol that couldn't make it into the mouth. It always seemed to be her that had to take all the chores. There were plenty of other barmaids who were more than capable of lightening the load, yet the doormat it was. She could only assume that it was due to how meek she is.

_I want to do something that could make me happy but… I have no clue of where to begin-!_

Suddenly, Megumi heard the familiar sound of the door swinging open. She froze for a moment. _The bar is supposed to be closed, why are there… _Her anxiety only rose as she slowly looked up to find herself staring straight into the eyes of a big, muscular man with scars all over his body. Even worse, he surrounded her with his men, which all had the same body type to their leader.

"U-Um… I'm s-sorry we're…" Megumi attempted to speak, but her nerves got the best of her.

What followed was a low, booming voice, "Well, aren't you a pretty, young lady?"

Megumi gulped.

"If you don't wanna get your beautiful face ruined, then give us a round o' your strongest booze." The man continued.

The girl was speechless. How was she supposed to respond? On one hand, she could comply with their request and give them what they want, but Megumi knew her boss enough to know that she'd be PISSED if she found out. And on the other hand, she could refuse and fight, like the other barmaids would, but her feet just wouldn't move from their spot, as if they had been glued to the floor.

"…Won't do it? Well then, I suppose me an' my boys will have to do this the hard way."

Megumi felt as if she was shrinking. The group of men surrounding her stepped closer and closer, the smell of sweat among other foul smells becoming all the more apparent as they did. From behind, one of the many men grabbed her around the stomach, as though she was even able to move at the moment.

"Boys," The leader jerked his head towards the barrels filled with different kinds of drink from over the counter, "have your fill."

One by one, the men grabbed the barrels and drank from them, chugging down the alcohol as if it were a race. No matter how much she wished she could just disappear… no matter how much she just wanted to go back to the comforts of her home…

When Megumi opened her eyes, she was still stuck in the prison that was the Polar Bar.

"Ay boss, ya think this 'ere lass would net us a pretty penny?" The man who was restraining Megumi questioned.

"Hmm, I suppose we could sell 'er. 'Could fetch a good price, I reckon."

The girl shook at the thought.

"Or, maybe I could kick all of your asses instead." Suddenly, another voice was heard. This time, it wasn't another of the pirate boss' lackeys, but someone else. Although he wore the traditional outfit of a pirate, with a bandanna to match, his hair and eyes ruined the image. Spiky and bright red in color, mixed with golden eyes that were complimented by the snarky grin across his face.

"An' who're you supposed to be?" The captain bellowed.

"Eh, just a traveler really." The boy answered with a shrug. "Or well, I'm trying to become a pirate captain, but I also like to defeat disgusting pirate-wannabes who treat women like objects on the side." He gestured to Megumi, "Let her go if ya know what's good for you."

The captain merely laughed at the boy's declaration, "Oh really? Ya really think you can defeat me an' my boys by your lonesome, eh?"

"That's right." The redhead replied bluntly. "You say that like it's gonna be hard."

"You little-! Boys, go get 'im!" The man bellowed.

In seconds, the bar became a battlefield of chaotic proportions. Men dived at the red-haired boy from all angles, cutlasses in hand. They didn't account for his swift moves, however, as the boy was quick to dodge their attacks. As a result, the men all crashed into each other, effectively knocking them out. The boy began running towards Megumi, as she was his goal, but he was unfortunately blocked by the second wave of men. Now, it was his turn to wield his own weapon which were two small daggers. Not wanting to get too much blood on his hands, the boy slid underneath the legs of the man in the middle, slicing his legs in the process.

"Y-YOU BRAT!" The pirate captain was enraged. Unsheathing his saber, he wildly attacked the boy who just injured his crewmate. However, his efforts weren't enough. With a backflip, the redhead jumped up on top of a table and with a leap, he sliced the wrist of the captain's dominant hand, causing him to drop his head and keel over, grasping his injured wrist.

"Hey, thanks for the free weapon!" The boy said, sheathing his daggers and picking up the captain's saber. Finally, he found himself face to face with the man holding Megumi captive. Instead of a fight, however, the man dropped her in fear and ran out the door of the Polar Bar. The boy was quick to catch her before she could fall and helped her back to her feet. "We should probably go now."

Megumi nodded and the two escaped from the Polar Bar unscathed.

**.**

**.**

"I… t-thank you so much. You saved my life…" Megumi said, still shaken up from that fight.

The boy grinned, "No problem! Name's Soma Yukihira by the way, and you…?"

"Oh, it's Megumi Tadokoro." She responded after a moment of hesitation.

"So, Tadokoro, does that stuff happen often?"

"You mean, the pirates?"

"Yeah."

Megumi paused for a moment, "Y-Yeah, it does kinda… Pirates come to the bar and start fights all the time, but I've never had anything like that happen before. It was scary…"

Soma leaned back and put an arm around the girl's shoulder to comfort her. Megumi flinched for a second but didn't complain. "Yeah, I can imagine. Pirates these days have nothing better to do than steal from innocent people."

"Didn't you say you wanted to be a pirate captain?"

"Yep! I wanna show all of those jerks how to be a real pirate! Plus, having my own crew doesn't sound too bad either."

"You, you don't even have a crew yet?!"

"Nope, why?"

"Well, it's just that, you were so amazing back there, I-I would've thought you had at least one or two already…"

"You thought I was amazing?"

Megumi blushed, "Umm, yeah I did…"

Soma laughed, a blush visible on his cheeks as well, "Thanks, but I guess I just haven't found the right people yet…"

"Haha, I guess that's fair."

Suddenly, one of the pirates from before creeped up from behind Soma, wielding a cutlass. Fortunately, Megumi was quick to notice.

"S-Soma-kun, watch out!" Without even thinking, the girl jumped up and kicked the man straight in the stomach with enough force to knock him out cold. She looked at the unconscious body in disbelief. _She _really did that?

Soma whistled, "Wow, that was pretty impressive!"

"I, umm-!" Megumi stuttered. "T-Thank you, but I didn't mean to…"

"Who cares about that, did you see what you just did? That was incredible! But I have to ask… why didn't you do that before?"

Megumi tapped her index fingers together in embarrassment, "W-Well, there were just so many of them and I was all alone so…"

"Hmm… Hey Tadokoro, wanna join my crew?" Soma asked suddenly.

"Huh?!"

"I said that I was trying to find the right people for my crew, right? Well, I think you are the right person!"

_Just like that?!_

"You really think so, Soma-kun?" Megumi questioned.

"That's right! Besides, I'm sure you'd rather leave that bar anyway after what happened tonight, right?"

The blue-haired girl hesitated, collecting her thoughts. _He's right, I do want to leave the bar… and he seems like a really nice person too! Maybe this'll be my chance to finally do something with my life-! _She looked at Soma's bright grin and her blush grew even more apparent.

"So? What d'ya say?" Soma asked once more.

Clenching her fist, Megumi's response was confident and direct.

"I'll do it, Soma-kun! I'll… I'll join your crew!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** _Thank you for all the lovely reviews on the first chapter! The first few chapters won't be super romance-heavy since I have to set everything up, but we're getting there!_

_Hope you enjoy!_

**.**

**Chapter Two: Leaving the Nest**

**.**

Following the night's… excursions, Soma and Megumi decided to check in at the local inn for the night.

"Two rooms, please." Soma said to the innkeeper.

"That'll be six silver." The lady replied in an unenthusiastic tone.

Soma's face suddenly shifted, his smile turning into a frown. He checked both of his pockets and turned to Megumi. "Uh, Tadokoro?"

"Hm?" She responded with a confused look.

"So funny thing… I totally forgot that I'm broke."

"Broke?!"

Megumi felt her spirit drop. She had just accepted to be a member of his crew and he didn't even have any money to his name? Things were already looking down. "N-None at all?"

"Spent it all on some dried squid."

She clutched a hand at her heart. _Oh god, this can't be good…_

"Want some?"

"Maybe later…"

.

.

With their rooms paid for (using Megumi's earnings from her job at the bar), the two bid each other a good night and slept in their separate rooms until dawn. The next day, they sat at one of the tables in the small restaurant within the inn they stayed and ate a breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs and bacon. And of course, Megumi had paid for it.

"Soma-kun, don't get me wrong but… well, I'm happy to pay for all of this, but I don't think I'll be able to keep this up forever… we need to find a new way to earn money since I don't have a job anymore."

Shoveling some bacon in his mouth, Soma replied, "Yeah, you got a good point, but I already have a plan."

Megumi's eyes sparkled, "Really?"

He swallowed, "All we gotta do is find some treasure and we're all set!"

"T-That's it?"

"Well, yeah! But we need to find some more crew members first!"

"Hmm… well, I suppose that isn't the worst idea… but there's one more problem. I need to quit my job."

"Huh? How's that a problem?"

"W-Well…" Megumi tapped her fingers together in embarrassment. "It's just that, my boss is kinda, sorta… terrifying."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she yells at me every time I make a mistake… which just causes me to make even more mistakes, which causes her to yell at me more, and then that- "

"Okay, okay I get it! Look, Tadokoro, remember all those pirates yesterday and how you took one down all by yourself? Your boss can't be _that _bad."

"I guess you do have a point…"

"Plus, you've got me backing you up! If I go there with you, then nothing can go wrong!"

_Even though what he's saying sounds crazy, somehow his confidence is rubbing off…_

Megumi smiled, "You're right. Let's go!"

.

.

The bar was certainly livelier, as loud chatter could be easily heard accompanied by laughter coming from the pirates who were enjoying the drinks it had to offer. Nearly every table was full, and barmaids were filling up even more mugs with booze and sliding them to the customers seated in front of the counter, gulping them down in one swig. Megumi cautiously walked up to one of them.

"U-Um, do you know w-where Ms. Fumio is?" She asked.

"Oh, the boss? She's in the back." Her coworker replied with a gesture to the back of the counter, where the smell of meat was evident.

"Thank you!" With a bow, Megumi went around to the back, but not before flashing a small thumbs up to Soma, who returned it with a grin.

The back of the bar was nearly shrouded in steam from the grill where beef and chicken were currently being barbecued. Fumio, wielding a butcher's knife, was cutting up raw beef on a wooden cutting board and seasoning it with herbs and spices.

Coughing a little from the smoke, Megumi said, "Ms. Fumio? I-I need to tell you something!"

The old woman sighed, "Megumi, what is it? You know you should be on table-clearing duty."

"W-Well, um, you see…"

"See what? If this isn't important, get back to work."

"I'm quitting my job!"

Fumio dropped her knife in shock, "You're quitting?"

"Y-Yes I am!" Megumi exclaimed. "You see, Ms. Fumio, I am leaving the bar to become a pirate!"

There was silence for a moment, then Fumio suddenly erupted into laughter. "Become a pirate, eh? Well, color me surprised!"

"H-Hah?!"

"Out of all the barmaids who have worked here in my years of owning this place, never did I expect any of them to run off and become a pirate. Especially you, Megumi."

"I-I can explain!"

"No, no, you don't have to. Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice all the mess you made last night?" Megumi gulped as she spoke, "You had a run-in with a group of nasty pirates, didn't you?"

The girl hung her head low and replied, "Yes, I did, Ms. Fumio… b-but it wasn't me who stopped them…"

"Oh, really? Then who was it?"

"Let me introduce him to you." Megumi walked outside of the room and called for Soma to join them. Although he was a bit confused, he headed to the back of the bar.

"Ms. Fumio meet Soma-kun. He's the one who saved me." Megumi explained hastily.

"This old bat is your boss?" Soma asked bluntly. Megumi's jaw dropped instantly as Fumio's brow furrowed.

"This "Old bat" could kick your ass, you know." She replied, making the giant knife in her hand extremely visible to Soma, who held his hands up in defense.

"Okay, okay I get it! Anyways, did Megumi tell you already or?"

"She told me she wanted to quit her job and become a pirate. I assume you had something to do with this?"

"Sure did! I want her to be part of my crew!"

Fumio laughed once again, "Well, I'll be damned! You are one funny boy, Soma."

"Uh, thanks?"

"But do you really think you have the guts to be a captain? Being a pirate isn't all fun and games you know."

"Yeah, I know that. But I'm sure once I find a crew, finding treasure and taking down bad guys will be easy!"

"You've got a lot of confidence I'll give you that. Tell you what, as long as you can protect Megumi, I'll allow her to go along."

Megumi smiled excitedly, "Really? You will?"

"Well, it isn't like I'm forcing you to be here. And besides, maybe going out on the sea will help you strengthen those puny muscles of yours." Megumi blushed embarrassedly at that.

"You don't need to worry, m'am. Plus, Tadokoro's got some moves of her own."

"Does she now? Well in that case, you two will be just fine."

"Thanks!" Soma replied.

"Yes, thank you so much, Ms. Fumio!" Megumi added.

"If you're looking for some more crew members, head to Roguetown west of here. You'll find some strong ones. And you better come and visit sometime before I die."

"We will I promise! Thanks, again!"

"Of course, now go on, get out of here."

Now that Megumi was freed from work, the two began moving westward as Fumio had told them, their next destination being Roguetown, where their journey will truly begin.


End file.
